Tiago Marques da Gama expands real estate leadership with W. P. Carey Executive MBA

When real estate professional Tiago Marques da Gama (Executive MBA '26) and his family moved to Arizona, he decided it was the perfect time to pursue further professional development. Looking for the right program led him to W. P. Carey and the Executive MBA.

Sometimes, a major life change can create a chance to invest in the future. Tiago Marques da Gama (Executive MBA '26) was living in Dubai with his family when a promotion for his wife meant moving across the world to Arizona.

For Marques da Gama, this meant leaving his role as a senior project manager within real estate. Instead of immediately seeking out a new position, he decided it was the perfect time to pursue further professional development.

Looking for the right program led him to ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business and the Executive MBA. A conversation with an EMBA alum assured Marques da Gama that W. P. Carey was the place he was meant to be.

"He convinced me it was the right approach for me, that it would open a lot of doors," he says. After balancing EMBA coursework with a commute from Cave Creek and taking care of his three young children alongside his wife, Marques da Gama describes the experience as “absolutely worth it.”

"For me, education is invaluable," he says. "The EMBA gives you a strong education and is a very prestigious program. It also gives you an immense network, and honestly, friends for life."

Investing in the right opportunity

The alum that Marques da Gama spoke with about the Executive MBA had a similar background in real estate, which gave him the confidence that the program would be a smart investment for him and his career long-term.

He could also see the value of the Executive MBA curriculum and the impact it had on previous students. "I really walked through and saw how good the program was through the success other alumni have had," he says.

It was extremely important to Marques da Gama that the program would provide long-term value and open up leadership opportunities in the future, based on how much time and effort he was putting into it.

"It is a big investment, not only from a financial standpoint, but also from a time standpoint," he says. "You need to be 100% bought in, and your close family needs to be bought in as well."

Expanding leadership skills

Marques da Gama entered the W. P. Carey Executive MBA program with over 15 years of experience in leading large-scale civil engineering and real estate projects. His background has helped him build expertise in technical skills and project management, but being a part of the Executive MBA has added broader business and leadership experience.

"Having these core disciplines and core courses has made me — and I can already feel it today — way more rounded," he says. "It added a lot of tools to my toolkit that I use every day."

The Executive MBA has students look at different situations that business leaders face and equips them with the tools they need to make those tough decisions. Through this, they're able to develop the mindset of an ethical, high-impact leader.

“When I face certain situations, I just respond differently,” says Marques da Gama. “The program clearly gave me these tools.”

Finding connections in the cohort

While the faculty of the W. P. Carey Executive MBA program features renowned business leaders, researchers, and experts, students are not just learning from them.

"Our classes are very interactive, and we're not being taught only by the professor, but we're being taught by everybody," says Marques da Gama. "In every course that we take, there is at least one or more leaders in our cohort who are experts in that discipline."

Students in the program represent executives across countless industries, which leads to lively classroom discussions with diverse perspectives and experiences. This has been one of the highlights of Marques da Gama's EMBA experience.

"I work in a certain industry, and just having discussions with my colleagues who come from different positions, executive levels, and across multiple industries, really made me think and approach situations differently," he says.

Those discussions have also led to friendships that have gone beyond the classroom, something Marques da Gama will cherish for years to come.

"Some of my best friends came from this program, and I do think our cohort is special," he says. "If I could, I'd do it all again."